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Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker are headed for a December runoff after neither candidate could secure enough votes for an outright victory under state law. Having won a shock victory for the Democrats in 2020, Mr Warnock is trying to prevent Republican Mr Walker from taking away his Senate seat. Mr Warnock won his seat in a 2021 run-off held the day before the January 6 attack on the US Capitol. Hoping to disrupt Mr. Warnock’s goal of a six-year term is Mr. Walker, a former University of Georgia running back and Heisman Trophy winner who is endorsed by Donald Trump. Mr Walker’s biggest battle was against reports that he paid for two abortions for women, despite his strong opposition to abortion. Meanwhile, in the race to become the state’s governor, incumbent Republican Brian Kemp emerged victorious in a showdown with Democrat Stacey Abrams — a rematch of the 2018 election.

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Democrats are again counting on black voters to ‘save the Senate’

Black voters have long been a key part of the Democratic party’s coalition, and this has been particularly evident in recent years in Georgia. African-Americans helped send Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff to the Senate in the 2020/2021 cycle, securing Democratic control of the upper house. Now, as Sen. Warnock heads into a runoff against Trump-backed challenger Herschel Walker, black voters in the Peach State said they feel the weight of the party resting on their shoulders again. ​”Now it’s up to us to save the Senate,” S Dorian Hampton, 41, told NBC News. “We did it once. We can do it again.” Some see the added focus on Georgia as a positive because it means politicians are finally paying attention to the state’s large black population, rather than writing it off as an all-white Republican stronghold. “There is power in our votes. If it hadn’t happened in 2020, this race would have looked like any other old midterm to black people,” Ariel Martin, 5, a tax attorney in suburban Atlanta, added to the NBC report. “But we realized our power two years ago, and now, despite voter suppression, we voted in large numbers because we know our votes matter now. Black people made it, so Republicans need to be held accountable.” Josh Marcus November 10, 2022 3:20 pm 1668092436

Is Trump heavy on the GOP after volatile midterms?

In midterm races across the country, Donald Trump has sought to use his significant influence with the Republican base to boost his favored candidates, such as Herschel Walker in Georgia. The former president is still nearly twice as popular as his potential challenger, Florida Gov. Ron DeSandis, but the slide in popularity is notable. Here’s more on the potential 2024 match between the two men. Josh Marcus November 10, 2022 3:00 p.m 1668091536

Hopeful signs from Nevada for Democrats’ Senate hopes

In order for Democrats to retain control of the Senate, they must win at least two of the three upset Senate races this cycle in the states of Georgia, Nevada and Arizona, according to most observers. In Georgia, incumbent Raphael Warnock will face Republican Herschel Walker in a runoff this December, although the Atlanta-based pastor received more votes than Mr. Walker in the general election. In Nevada, Republican Adam Laxalt currently leads incumbent Sen. Kathryn Cortez Masto, but some observers believe he could regain the advantage once the predominantly Democratic mail-in ballots are counted. Josh Marcus November 10, 2022 2:45 pm 1668090485

Democrats throw $7 million into Georgia as runoff looms

The Democratic Party is throwing millions behind Georgia U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock as his close race to defend his seat leads to a runoff with Trump-endorsed Herschel Walker. The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee is spending $7 million on field operations in the state ahead of the December contest, which will fund voter contact efforts and door-to-door research. “We know that speaking directly to voters through a strong, well-funded ground race is critical to winning Georgia, and we’re wasting no time getting these programs off the ground in the runoff,” DSCC Chairman Sen. Gary told Politico Peters. . This is just the beginning of the financial battle that will be fought during the runoff, as both candidates will continue to seek individual donations from voters to keep them afloat. Josh Marcus November 10, 2022 2:28 p.m 1668056367

ICYMI: How Georgia’s 2022 Midterm Playoffs Work

As Georgia’s Senate race heads into a runoff, here’s what you need to know about how the process works. Meg Kinnard has the story. Josh Marcus November 10, 2022 04:59 1668052827

Democrats win over Trump-backed candidate in Washington state

Democrat Marie Perez has jumped out to an early lead over Trump-backed Joe Kent in what has been seen as a revenge mission for the former president Kent, 42, who bested incumbent Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler in an open primary this summer, trailed Ms. Perez by six points after the first batch of votes were counted. As of Wednesday morning, Ms. Perez was at 53 percent, while Mr. Kent was at 47 percent with 65 percent of the vote in the race for Washington’s Third Congressional District. Andrew Buncombe reports from Seattle. Josh Marcus November 10, 2022 4:00 am 1668049227

A runoff means more Warnock text messages

Beyond all the major implications—control of Congress, the future of issues like reproductive freedom, that sort of thing—a runoff in Georgia also means more annoying text messages from the candidates. As Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker headed into a second match, the UC San Francisco doctor joked on Twitter that “looks like another month of twice-a-day texts from Raphael Warnock.” “Only 2 times a day? You have to be lucky,” replied author Dan Tynan. “I’m so glad everyone else is going to stop. (They will stop, won’t they?)” Josh Marcus November 10, 2022 3:00 am 1668045627

Well, at least one conspiracy theorist lost his election this year

Ms Hassan defeated Don Bolduc, a retired US Army general who won the endorsement of former President Donald Trump by parroting his lies about the conduct of the 2020 election. Mr. Bolduc had attracted attention in the final weeks of the campaign for repeating a well-debunked hoax about children being allowed to relieve themselves in trash cans by public school officials, which was supposed to fuel the children’s non-existent decision to “identify as cats. “ Graeme Massie has the story. Josh Marcus November 10, 2022 02:00 am 1668042027

Trump is now turning to his own midterm candidates

Mr. Trump showed no sympathy for his candidate-elect when he took to the Truth Social on Tuesday night and mocked him for not pushing the “Big Lie” of the one-term president’s 2020 election hard enough. “Don Bolduc was a great guy, but he lost tonight when he recanted, after his big win in the primary, his longstanding stance on voter fraud in the 2020 presidential primary. If he had stayed strong and true, he would have won, easily. Lessons learned!!!” wrote a seemingly unimpressed Mr Trump. Graeme Massie has the story. Josh Marcus November 10, 2022 1:00 am 1668038427

Herschel Walker won an overwhelming percentage of the white vote – the only group that supported him

Exit polls showed only white voters chose former University of Georgia running back and Heisman Trophy winner Herschel Walker in the race for a full six-year term, with about 99 percent of precincts reporting votes. About 54 per cent of men, who made up 47 per cent of the vote, voted for Mr Walker. but 45 per cent of women, who made up 53 per cent of the electorate, backed Mr Warnock. Eric Garcia breaks down the numbers in his full report for the Independent. Josh Marcus November 10, 2022 12:00 AM